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Unified Eminence of Samanjasya
The Unified Eminences of Samanjasya Ikasuratasana Samanjasya, usually referred to in the languages of non-Elven races as the Unified Eminences of Samanjasya, or simply as Samanjasya, is a nation on the eastern coast of Savera, the eastern continent of Bhatakana, The World. Samanjasya has an almost entirely Elven populace, and it's people consider Samanjasya to be the birthplace and ancestral homeland of the Elven race. Geography The lands that traditionally comprise the Unified Eminences of Samanjasya are lush and verdant, and encompass multiple types of landscape. The Samanjasyan territories are subdivided into Subi'am (singular Sube), semi-autonomous provinces with their own leadership and landscapes. Subi'am Jaga'una, or The Provinces of Awakening The Awakening Provinces are the lands that have been part of Samanjasya since the founding of the nation. While additional outlying lands may have temporarily been encompassed by Samanjasya's borders, the Subi'am Jaga'una have always remained the core of the country, and during the tyranny of the Stonesworn Empire, it was to these lands that the Elves of Samanjasya retreated, sealing the borders behind them so as to spend the span of the Imperial reign in isolation from the outside world. Each province is a city-state in it's own right, with a provincial capital at the centre, which shares it's name with the Sube itself. Sube Rajasi, or The Province of Harmony The Province of Harmony is the true heartland of Samanjasya. It is isolated from the outside world, with the other Awakening Provinces arrayed in a ring around it to the north, west, and south, and only the endless blue expanse of Rukha, the Great Eastern Ocean, to the east. The province is evenly divided between dense tropical forests and rolling hills carpeted with tall grass. Garbed by trees, the great capital city of Rajasi rises proudly from the centre of the province, projecting it's quiet aura of sedate majesty. Rajasi is the over-capital of Samanjasya, for it is from here that the Tajarani, the Crown-Ruler, issues their patiently considered edicts that affect the lives of everyone within the nations' borders. Sube Rajasi is the most populated of the Awakening Provinces, and Rajasi more than anywhere else plays host to greater crowds of Elves than can be found anywhere else in the world. This great throng is increased even further by the temporary residents of Rajasi, which is constantly visited by an ever changing sea of travellers from the other provinces, and more rarely, by invited guests from outside of Samanjasya's borders. The traditional heraldic colour of Sube Rajasi is the rich, deep purple of ripe plums, and it's heraldic device is the Phulataja, a symbolic icon representing both a lotus flower and a crown. This banner flew high over the Samanjasyan armies that fought at the final battle against the Stonesworn Empire, when the warrior host of the Elves was led into battle by the Mali Manakasama de Vanapaida nu Ghatia, personal champion of the Tajarani, Saundarya Vana. Sube Nadi, or The Province of Rivers The northernmost province, Sube Nadi is a treacherous place for outsiders to tread. There is precious little solid ground in the Province of Rivers, with the landscape constantly riven by the hundreds, if not thousands of streams and tributaries that feed into the great river Yatarinila as it winds it's way towards the sea. The soft, muddy soil is held in place by the thin, tendril-like roots of the tall yet twisted twisted tees with their wide-spreading fronds, which form a dense green ceiling overhead. The combination of the thick foliage, the ever-present water, and the great heat of the Samanjasyan climate results in an incredibly humid environment, in which it can be difficult to see further than short distances due to the constant steaming mists that arise from the streams and hang in curtains between the trees. Unless a traveller stays to the pathways that follow the open banks of the Yatarinila itself, they will find themselves in a dimly lit labyrinth of treacherous pathways, illuminated only by the midnight blue light reflected by the waters that surround them. Deep within the shifting maze of rivers and streams lies Nadi, the floating city. A sprawling collection of buildings on rafts linked by bridges, the layout of the city constantly changes as bridges are moved to connect different rafts, and on rare occasions, as the tides and flows of the rivers change, the entire city will separate into its' individual parts and steer their way to a new, more stable location to reconnect. The only building with a definitive location is the great barge-palace of the Rani of Nadi, which always takes centre-place in the intricate web of rafts and bridges: wherever it weighs anchor, the city will reform around it. The traditional heraldic colour of Sube Nadi is the gleaming ultramarine of open water under the midday sun, and it's heraldic device is the Machilipa, a symbol representing a leaping fish breaching the surface of the water. This design can be seen woven into the sails of many of the Elven vessels that set sail from Sube Nadi, and was worn on the cloaks of the archers of Sube Nadi dispatched to the final battle against the Stonesworn Empire by Rani Rithika Nadi. Sube Vana, or The Province of Forests The westernmost province, Sube Vana is notable first and foremost for the density of it's forests: the entire landscape is covered, from border to border, in lush green tropical forests, with plants of every variety occupying their own harmonious niche in the vast tapestry of growth. Colossal trees tower into the skies, their branches interweaving with those of their neighbours to create a vast soaring canopy as solid and intricate as the roof of any building could hope to be. From the great boughs of these mighty trees are strung vines and creepers bursting with flowers in every size, shape and colour imaginable, creating fragrant curtains swaying overhead and trailing down to the forest floor, which itself is richly carpeted with flowers, herbs, mushrooms, bushes and wild grasses, as well as the smaller, more spindly trees of varieties that will never reach the mighty heights of their taller cousins. So large and sturdy are even the thinner upper boughs of the great trees of Sube Vana that they can easily support the weight of many adult elves, and often the branches can be seen to have been woven together, creating pathways and roads of living wood high above the forest floor. If a traveller were well-versed in the ways of the forests, they could ascend and descend between the various layers of paths by means of the hanging vine-ladders, and cross the entire province from one end to the other without once touching their feet to the floor. All Elven buildings are constructed in ways that are harmonious with their environments, but nowhere is this more evident that at the heart of the Province of Forests, where the capital city of Vana, the fabled Cathedral of Trees, stands eternally growing in it's grotto. Hundreds of the mighty trees of Vana have been grown into interweaving structures over thousands of years by delicate and patient Elven arts, with their constant slow growth ever-reinforcing and expanding the city's soaring grace. At the centre, acting as both the foundation and the pinnacle of this mighty endeavour, is the Palace of the Rani, grown out of and within the vast trunk of the oldest and tallest tree in the province, the upper branches of which emerge from the great canopy to allow brilliant shafts of sunlight down onto the otherwise-shadowed glade. The traditional heraldic colour of Sube Vani is the vivid emerald of holly leaves in winter, and its' heraldic device is the Patesigam, a symbol representing a stag standing in the shade of a tree. This symbol can be seen or carved into way-signs all across the province, and was painted on the shields of the doomed cavalry sent to the final battle against the Stonesworn Empire by Rani Avani Vana, slain to the last man in their effort to protect their allies from an enemy charge. Sube Maidana, or The Province of Steppes In the south-east of the Subi'am Jaga'una lies Sube Maidana, where the great forests abruptly fall away to reveal endless sweeping plains of tall, pale green wild grasses, in some places reaching chest high on an elf, their tips bleached to a golden yellow by the bright sun. This golden-green ocean of grass stretches in gentle rising slopes from the lowland forests of Sube Vana to the northwest, all the way to the foothills on the outskirts of Sube Pahara to the southeast, in an unbroken carpet of colour, it's surface sweeping with wave-like ripples in the wind. In the wide-open grasslands, sound can travel for miles, and new visitors can often be confused why such a peaceful and placid looking landscape, with nary a cloud in the sky, is so often disturbed by the rolling sound of thunder. The answer lies not in the skies, but on the ground, for it is in Sube Maidana that the wild horses of Samanjasya run free, racing the wind, the sound of their hooves a constant drumbeat, marking the rhythm of life in the steppe. Elven settlements in Sube Maidana are impermanent, with families of farmers and craftspeople dwelling in structures of lightweight wood and waterproofed cloth, which can be dismantled, loaded into carts or carried on horseback, and re-erected elsewhere, to allow one farming location to lie fallow and regain the nutrients in it's soil while the farmers tend to another location. The largest of the settlements in Sube Maidani is the chaotic tent-city of Maidani itself, which shrinks and grows in size as various families arrive and depart to ply their wares in the capital city of the horse-nomads. The fabrics that make up the tents and collapsible buildings are woven with bright colours in intricate patterns, and flags, pennants and banners flap in the breeze from every conceivable anchor point, turning the city into a constantly moving riot of colour. No building is more eye-wateringly impressive than the billowing pavilion-palace of the Rani of Maidana, tents within tents forming an inner layout as intricate as any permanent building, that can shift and re-arrange is the situation requires. The traditional heraldic colour of Sube Maidana is the warm golden-yellow of late-season daffodils, and it's heraldic device is the Havaghora, a symbol representing a horse in full gallop in the direction of the wind. This sign can be seen flying from many of the anchor lines of the tents in Maidana, and shone on the livery of the horse-archers deployed to the final battle against the Stonesworn Empire by Rani Kishore Maidana. Sube Pahara, or The Province of Mountains In the south-east of the Awakening provinces, the vivid greens of the forests and the grasslands give way to the gleaming white stone of the Pikaga mountain range. A landscape of great extremes, Sube Pahara's towering mountain peaks hide bountiful farms and vineyards in the tiny volcanic soil valleys that lie between the slopes, while the mountains themselves possess a strange beauty in their bleakness. The sun-baked stone radiates warmth even at night throughout the summer months, and only the tallest of the mountains ever feels the touch of ice and snow in the depths of winter. The majestic pinnacle of the Pikaga mountain range is the mountain-city of Pahara, capital of Sube Pahara and seat of power of the Rani. The Pikaga mountains play host to the mining industry of Samanjasya, and Mount Pahara is the epicentre of this craft, it's roots festooned with tunnels and passages that seek the bountiful gifts of metals and jewels offered forth by the earth. Above sea level, almost the entirety of Pahara has been hollowed out, with streets and homes carved out of the substance of the mountain using ingenious crafts that ensure the structure of the stone maintains it's strength and integrity. Once, in ages past, Pahara was a great and terrible fire-mountain, but it's burning heart has long since cooled into eternal slumber: The vast magma chamber now forms the industrious inner city district, where the blacksmiths, whitesmiths, farriers, armourers, and metal-workers of all varieties hone their crafts and ply their wares. At the summit of the mountain, emerging from the stone to form an island in the sparkling turquiose lake that lies in the volcanic caldera, is the black marble palace of the Rani, standing in stark relief against the blinding white stone of its' surroundings. The traditional heraldic colour of Sube Pahara is the glowing scarlet of rubies in firelight, and it's heraldic device is the Surajapachi,a symbol representing a bird in flight silhouetted against the sun. This image can be seen wrought or engraved into metal work all across Sube Pahara, and gleamed on the breastplates of the golden-armoured infantry that marched out to the final battle against the Stonesworn Empire at the order of Rani Girish Pahara. Subi'am Mazimina, or The Provinces of Welcoming Although the Provinces of Awakening are the only lands that have always been part of Samanjasya since its' founding, they have not always been the extent of the nations' reach. Indeed, according to the oral histories of Samanjasya, the entirety of Bhatakana was once under the stewardship of the Elves prior to the inception of the nation proper. The outlying lands that were invited to become part of the Unified Eminences we known as Mazimina, a term derived from the Samanjasyan words for "guest" and "land". As the kingdoms of the younger races began to establish themselves, more and more of the Mazimina were absorbed into other nations, and only a relative handful remained within the purview of Samanjasya. When the Stonesworn Empire rose to power and began to sweep across the face of Bhatakana, the remainder of the Mazimina were lost to their advance, and the Elves retreated behind the borders of the Subi'am Jaga'una, sealing their ancestral homeland against invasion by means of their ancient and arcane craft. In the years following the defeat of the Stonesworn Empire, the Elves of Samanjasya have begun reaching out to their neighbours once more, and new Mazimina are being welcomed to the Unified Eminences for the first time in living Elven memory. Mazimina Colinas Puraba, or The Land of the Eastern Hills Formerly part of the nation of Goblinda, located south of the Provinces of Awakening, the Elves of Samanjasya sent diplomats and Mali to sway the Goblin inhabitants away from their cultural tradition of anti-ecological extremism. With the Mali demonstrating the benefits of cultivating the land to the starving populace, and Samanjasyan relief efforts lending aid to those farmers being cracked down upon by the religious leaders, the country fractured, with the eastern part of the country accepting the invitation to become part of the Unified Eminences. Mazimina Colinas Puraba is a land of gently rolling hills and sparse forests, with the strength slowly returning to its' soil, promising in time to become bountiful farmland. Mazimina Colinas Puraba is represented in the Raisa by a Pratinidhi, a regional governor and representative of the local populace. Once the remaining lands and people of Goblinda are brought into the Unified Eminences, Mazimina Colinas will be reunited as Mazimina Goblinda, and the position of Pratinidhi will be phased out and replaced with a new Rani. Until that time, Pratinidhi Lavrador Almoco, an aged Goblin who took it upon himself to learn all he could of the Mali's teachings and pass it on to the newly established farming families. Still only a learner himself, he has nonetheless earned a reputation for wisdom amongst his fellows. Ruler: Current Head of one of the 4 Royal families, and thus "King" or "Queen" of one of the 4 Royal Provinces, and consequently a member of the Raisa. The current Rani are: Rani Avani Vana, recently appointed daughter of the Tajarani; Rani Kishore Maidana; Rani Rithika Nadi; and Rani Girish Pahara. Tajarani - Crown-Ruler: Leader of the Unified Eminence of Samanjasya. Formerly a Rani, the Tajarani is appointed in a process called the Kheti, or "the Cultivation". When the previous Tajarani passes away (or abdicates, if they feel that they are coming to the end of their life), the Raisa meets in the capitol city to spiritually commune with the Vikasa together, and decide which amongst them is most suited towards ascending to the throne. The Vikasa is a natural force force, composed of the collective wisdom, power, and desires of the lands and people who dwell within the boundaries of the Kingdom. The chosen Rani will then appoint their own succesor to rule their province, and make the capitol Rajasi their new home as the Tajarani. Whilst the individual Ranis' have almost total power within their own provinces, the Tajarani acts as supreme commander of the nations' army and navy, and dictates policies that involve external forces, such as foreign relations and trade agreements. In truth, whilst the Tajarani has jurisdiction of these affairs, they are often handled by the Provincial Rani's, and are only brought to the Tajarani's attention when shit goes wrong. The primary day to day function of the Tajarani is to act as mediator in disputes between provinces and cities, clarifying laws when specifics come into question, and seeing to the spiritual health of the Unified Eminence and it's peoples. The current Tajarani, Saundarya Vana, led the Samanjasyan rebellion against the Stonesworn Empire. Raisa - Council: The Raisa is the political body which leads the Unified Eminence of Samanjasya. A five-person group, the Raisa comprises of the four Ranis, and is overseen by the Tajarani. The Tajarani rarely meets in person, as their duties usually keep them bound to their Provincial Capitals arbitrating the rulership of their lands. Instead, the Raisa usually communes by means of magical communication, to convey information between the members that just can't wait for the five annual meetings that are held each year. Four of these summits are the Sabha, held at the mid-point of each of the four seasons, and hosted in one of the four provincial capitols: the Basanta Sabha in Vana, the Garmi Sabha in Pahara, the Barisa Sabha in Maidana and the Sardi Sabha in Nadi. The Prathama Sabha, or "First Gathering", is held each year in Rajasi on the anniversary of the Unification of the then-warring Elven Kingdoms by the legendary Elven heroine Hamara Saccai, who was the first Elf to commune with the Vikasa, and who learned from it the Artha. Artha - Meaning: Artha is the primary socio-philosophical driving force behind the culture and peoples of Samanjasya, and has, for countless millenia, been the guiding force of the Kingdom. Artha is semi-utilitarian philosophy, which argues that the purpose of every sapient being is to grow to it's greatest potential without having a negative effect on the world around them. "A tree desires naught but to reach the clouds, but the tree that chokes it's neighbours swiftly finds itself unsheltered", runs one of the many mantra's of Artha, and since it was taught to Hamara Sacai by the Vikasa when she performed the first Kheti, the Tajarani, Rani, and Raisa have worked to nurture Samanjasya according to this doctrine. They are aided in this task by the Mali, the Druid-Priests who commune with Vikasa in order to preserve the spiritual well being of the nation. Artha espouses a philosophy of charity, dedication to self-improvement, non-agression in times of conflict, awareness and understanding of the world and people around you, and above all careful consideration of circumstances to ensure that your actions result in the most bounty for all, or at the very least, cause as little detriment as possible. The simplest explanation for the tenants of Artha, if you need it in fortune cookie format, is "if you can do good, then you should do good". Military of Samanjasya Speed Melee Ranged Defence Willpower INFANTRY Gulabadhala (Briarshield Spearmen) - Standard melee infantry of Samanjasya. Ranked troops armed with spears and interlocking shields. S-5 M-1/4+ R-N/A D-2/3+ W-4+ Badalabindu (Cloudpoint Archers) - Standard ranged infantry of Samanjasya. Ranked archers armed with longbows. S-5 M-1/5+ R-1/4+ D-1/4+ W-4+ Patharaksa (Pathkeeper Scouts) - Standard scout infantry of Samanjasya. Skirmish fighters, Skilled with bow and short-sword. S-6 M-1/4+ R-1/4+ D-1/4+ W-4+ Jangala Sikari (Deepgloam Hunters) - Specialised scout infantry from the Province of Forests. Armed with recurve shortbows, bladed bracers, and forest magic. S-7 M-1/4+ R-2/3+ D-1/3+ W-3+ Tejableda Yod'dha (Brightblade Warriors) - Specialised scout infantry from the Province of Mountains. Duel-wielding skirmish-knights,clad in flamesteel armour. S-6 M-2/2+ R-N/A D-2/3+ W-4+ Bijuka Suravira (Scarecrow Knights) - Melee infantry. Sword-and-Board Knights, able to switch between rank fighting and skirmish fighting. Trained in magical defence and counterspelling. S-5 M-1/3+ R-N/A D-2/2+ W-3+ S-6 M-2/3+ R-N/A D-1/2+ W-3+ CAVALRY Simapicha (Borderchase Brigade) - Standard Cavalry of Samanjasya. Heavily armoured knights with Spears for formation charges. S-8 M-1/4+ R-N/A D-1/3+ W-4+ Tivrapavana (Swiftwind Chargers) - Specialised Cavalry of the Province of Plains. Lightly armoured horsemen who fight in skirmish formation with ridiculously over-sized cavalry sabers. S-10 M-2/3+ R-N/A D-1/4+ W-4+ SPECIAL Lobhi/Phalane - Awakened tree spirits Jalati/Varminga - Awakened Flame spirits from the Province of Mountains Dubata/Taza - Awakened Water spirits from the Province of Rivers Tuphana/Mahaka - Awakened Air spirits from the Province of Plains Bhukampa/Drrhata - Awakened Earth spirits from the Province of Forests WAR MACHINES COMMANDERS Mali - A Mage-Priest of Kivasa, who through use of Kheti divines Artha. Very handy with nature magic. Must be present to field Lobhi/Phalane. Has different special rules based on Province. Vaphadara - A proven and trusted warrior, who has been inducted (kind of semi adopted) into a royal family in order to act in their name. (They retain their own famiy name for personal use, but when in the field are officially a representative of the family). Has different special rules based on Province. Can be upgraded to a Mati (Wizard) Vyakta - A Scholar-Mage, who studies magic for the sake of magic, rather than philosophical reasons. Oh the power. Santana - A member of a royal family. (Technically an heir to the throne, although usually not the direct heir.) has different special rules based on province. Can be upgraded to a Mati (Wizard). Must be present to summon provincial spirits.